Leo's Saturn 1B

[Mechanic]

Finished off the 1st stage tanks. The inter-stage is almost as stout as the engine base. Laminating the inside to the outside skin of the inter-stage was looking really horrible until I started rolling it out. It's too bad that wagon-wheel structure gets almost completely hidden out of sight. I think it's a great example of Leo's engineering. The instructions show three internal ribs in the inter-stage but the top one doesn't have anything to help locate it squarely so I decided not to put it in since no-one will ever see it. Put on some of the external detail parts. I don't know what the orange bits are, vent fairings or maybe antenna? And finishing out the inter-stage is the retro rocket fairings.

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[Mechanic]

Moving on to the main engines. Not really any detailed bits, just rolled cones. First mounting the outer engines with a nice little guide to set the proper angle. There is also a smaller guide that fits nicely inside the engine bells but no instruction on how or where to use it. The core engines are mounted straight. At the center is supposed to be a small cross heat shield but it doesn't fit, far too little space between the engines. And then these little air scoops around the perimeter of the body. You need to keep a close eye to get the proper curve to match the body. The stabilizing fins almost ready for installation. They are numbered, but every fin has its own distinctive marking. Plenty stout enough to take the weight of the rocket.

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[dhanners]

It’s coming along very nicely! Excellent work.

Does Leo have parts for the flexible insulation blankets that covered the bases of the outer nozzles?

Plus, here are a couple of diagrams of the flame shield, in case you don’t have them.

[Mechanic]

Thank you dhanners. Sorry about the delayed response, time has just been getting away from me the last couple of weeks. Leo did not include any parts for the insulation blankets, but I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks for the pictures. I did have little library of images for Saturn/Apollo, mostly of capsule details, but they're on an old hard drive that I've been lagging on recovering. The Saturn 1B has always been in the shadow of the Saturn V for me, but this project has given me a new appreciation for the 1B.

The fins went on fine, except for a little gap on one due to a slight warping of the tank skirt. Construction of the J-2 was somewhat similar to the Gemini engine, but a lot more pieces because of the annular ducting. The S-IVB stage is coming along nicely no big issues.

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[dhanners]

That’s a great-looking J-2!

[Mechanic]

Thanks again! Topping off the second stage with the tank dome and instrument ring. I thought the ullage motors were a nice touch, usually seen them represented by just a triangular-shaped fairing. More surface bits. And standing nice and straight.

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[Mechanic]

I decided to make the stand, even if just a temporary support, to get the weight off of the engines.

The internal structure of each pedestal was supposed to have a sliding element to lock the rocket in place, but it was too tight to slide, so I opted to leave the slide mechanism out.

I stood the rocket up on four of the pedestals so I could double check the spacing.

Each pedestal is held in place on the pad with just a speck of glue so as I can make the pad more sturdy down the road if need be. All the fins lined up almost perfectly with the pedestals.

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[Mechanic]

Onto the payload section. The SLA is moderately detailed. The internal bulkheads would make it difficult to modify, i.e. putting a LM inside.

The Service Module was fine. Just the maneuvering motors and heat exchangers being a little fiddley. The heat exchangers were a lot of repetitive work but I think they were well worth it.

When it came to assembling the Command Service Module, it went together just fine but a couple of notes. First with all disconnecting points on the rocket I was a little surprised the LES and capsule don't separate. Secondly (and this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine) the capsule is a Block One.

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[Mechanic]

This post should wrap this build. I got some wrinkling on the LES motor, not too noticeable though. Much like the SLA adapter the detail on the motor is a little lacking, but adequate.

The LES turned out pretty straight and the scaffolding went together well first time around. I did cheat a little, the tubes were made from lollipop sticks peeled down to the right diameter, and I did a simplified scaffold around the "donut"

Overall I had a good time building this one and I think it turned out well.

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[dhanners]

Uh, I’d say it turned out VERY well….

Between Leo’s design skills and your craftsmanship, you turned out a very impressive model. Kudos.